Civilization: Revolution

(360/PS3/DS)

Fact: many gamers are turned off by the very notion of strategy. As such, many simply cast Civilization: Revolution as an exercise in boring-ass spreadsheet wankery and moved on to the latest sci-fi or WWII shooter. In doing so, however, they missed what is probably the best and most accessible console implementation of turn-based strategy ever made.

For an experience that was designed with keyboard and mouse in mind, Revolution’s gamepad controls are remarkably easy to learn. The bright colors and hypnotic music conjure a mesmerizing ambience in which the centuries drift by and your puny band of hunter-gatherers rise to military, economic or scientific dominance. If any strategy title has a chance to win you over, this is the one.
 
Current availability? $30 new on PS3 and 360. $20 new on DS.

Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow

(PSP)

Years after Syphon Filter had become a sad, obnoxious parody of itself, the series was brought back to life with the PSP title Dark Mirror, which sold well enough to earn Greatest Hits status and an inferior PS2 port. There was no such love for the follow-up, Logan’s Shadow, which is a shame considering that it improved on Dark Mirror with underwater sequences, smarter enemies, environmental kills and a few cool quicktime events.

Like Dark Mirror, Logan’s Shadow also featured a special sniper rifle that could fire remote-triggered darts, which could release explosives, poison gas or a debilitating electrical charge when your target walked near another enemy. More importantly, it was one of the few PSP shooters to avoid feeling awkward or clunky because of the handheld’s lack of a second analog stick. Sadly, nobody cared, and what once looked set to be a yearly franchise has been effectively dead since 2007.

Current availability? $15 new.

Mario Strikers Charged

(Wii)

To FIFA and PES players, this probably looked like a sacrilegious clusterf*ck. To hardcore Nintendo fans, it was just another tantalizing plumber appearance that wasn’t the long-awaited Super Mario Galaxy. And to casual Wii buyers, well, it was one of those confusing, complicated games that required skills and button-pressing. Urgh.

Forget all of those misgivings. Mario Strikers is an absolute hoot. Far from the power-up diluted insult to soccer/football you might expect, it’s actually the new NBA Jam – a cranked up arcade distillation of the sport with its own layers of accessible depth bubbling away throughout. Every charged power shot and character-specific special move is designed with satisfyingly tactical, risk-and-reward balance in mind, and motion-controlled goal-keeping means that skill can always beat super-powered cheese.

Current availability? $15 new.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate

(360/PS3/PC)

Games based on movies are almost never worth purchasing, and despite the inclusion on our list, Wanted: Weapons of Fate is definitely no exception. The story, level design, graphics, sound and voice acting are all mediocre at best. As an overall package for $45, it stinks.

As a weekend rental for less than ten dollars, however, it rocks. The gunplay is deliciously exaggerated, with slow-motion shootouts, exploding headshots, showering fountains of blood and, of course, the film’s famous curving bullets. The cover system is impressive as well, rivaling even Gears of War’s.

The entire experience only lasts about four hours – thus the bad reviews – but those four hours are worth seeking out for the right price.

Current availability? $8 rental.

Dark Mist

(PSN)

It’s incredibly easy to dismiss this game as repetitive. Once the initial “wow, pretty!” impression has given way to a couple levels of same-y enemies, you start to wonder if Dark Mist is the less welcome kind of PSN download. At that point, most gamers might give up. Hell, we nearly did.

Persevere, though, and you’ll be rewarded with a surprisingly deep system of weapon power-ups, some brilliant-looking bosses and a massive challenge, especially when attempting to complete the whole thing on one life. And have you seen the price? Just buy it already so they give us a sequel!

Current availability? £4. Only offered in Europe and Japan.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

(DS)

Sometimes, gamers don’t make sense. The first Trauma Center: Under the Knife was a surprise hit on DS, thanks to tense action and expert use of the DS stylus to perform all kinds of bizarre surgeries, such as lazer blasting tiny parasitic sharks. The Wii version added in new story bits and new procedures and sold even more despite the fact that the Wii remote wasn’t nearly as precise a control device as the DS stylus.

Then came the DS sequel, which looked to deliver refined gameplay, improved graphics, and the good old stylus control scheme. It was the best of both worlds. And it was promptly ignored by almost everyone.

Perhaps gamers were tired of the concept – but that hasn’t stopped them buying crappy mini-game collections on Wii, has it? Perhaps they didn’t realize there was a 2 at the end. Perhaps… aw, perhaps nothing. Most gamers just missed on this one, that’s all. But there’s still time to make things right.

Current availability? $15 new.

Medal of Honor Airborne

(360/PS3/PC)

Remember this franchise? Before Call of Duty came along, this was the World War II series that blew us away with dramatic beach storming and historically relevant Nazi slaughtering. By the time Airborne arrived in 2007, however, most players had moved on… which is a shame, since it’s actually one of Medal of Honor’s finest.

Freedom is the key. Every other WWII shooter attempts to outdo Saving Private Ryan with cinematic yet extremely linear mission design. Airborne puts you in the plane-diving boots of a paratrooper, meaning your entry into the fight is always different. Meaning the fight itself is always different.

Call of Duty is still obviously better, but for the current price, Medal of Honor is an overlooked bargain.

Current availability? $10 new (PC), $17 new (360), $30 new (PS3).

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

(360)

Underneath its gorgeously bright visuals and kiddie-friendly, so-cute-I-want-to-choke-something exterior, the second Viva Pinata on 360 is a massive game. If you can manage to juggle all the various tasks – keeping the piñatas getting along with one another, breeding baby piñatas, crafting new foods for them to eat in case it triggers a valuable mutation – we don’t need to tell you there’s stupid depth here. It’s like you start off playing Pokemon, but end up playing Civilization.

Unfortunately, Trouble in Paradise didn’t add enough for most folks to think it merited a re-buy. To them, an expended co-op multiplayer mode, 28 new piñatas, new desert and snow environments, and the power to scan in new critters via the piñata vision camera – when it worked, at least – wasn’t really enough to get them excited again.

That was our attitude too. But then we played the game and all of those concerns evaporated within five minutes – especially when we learned there was a dinosaur now. Pinata Island is a place worth revisiting. And if you’ve been avoiding VP because it’s not manly enough, let us just point one thing out: You may never play a game with more sex in it than this one.

Current availability: $30 new.

MadWorld

(Wii)

Hardcore Nintendo fans complain about a lack of “real” games to play on the Wii… games bereft of maraca-shaking infants and cheerleader pom-poms. Yet when presented with a super stylish, hyper violent beat ‘em-up throwback with high review scores, they go ahead and ignore the damn thing. Cool. We’ll just switch our name to BabyRadar, since that’s all you seem to be interested in, dear readers.

To be fair, MadWorld hit shelves only two months ago. Maybe the unimpressive sales numbers will turn around. How about you do us a favor, try this black and white beauty out and guarantee that happens? We promise it’ll satiate your appetite for over-the-top mega brutality.

Current availability? $30 new.

Tony Hawk Proving Ground

(DS)

By the ninth year of annual Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater updates, the writing was on the wall. Gameplay was growing more and more indistinguishable, while the licensed pros were reduced to useless bit cameos in idiotic plot-based presentations seemingly ripped from Surge commercials. The series was in desperate need of a breather.

Above: A shining example of the shit no one cares about

Here’s the thing. The only thing that’s never sucked about Tony Hawk is the core gameplay. Unfortunately, the only version of Proving Ground that cared to maintain that focus happens to also be the worst selling edition. The DS version, however, cares not of your stupid plots, video editors, customizable skate lounges or getting off the damned board!

Sure, it’s a little on the fugly side… but once you trim the fat, the added Aggro Kick proves just as valuable to linking tricks as the manual or revert, and there’s zero analog Nail the Trick boredom. Once you add in the online mode, the lower screen map and the best licensed soundtrack on the DS ever, it’s easy see the superiority in this “inferior” iteration.  

Current availability? $20 new.